Macklemore Speaks Out On Recent Car Crash In Advance Of New Album Release

The Association for Safe International Road Travel estimates than over 37,000 U.S. residents die in road crashes every year. Fortunately, rap artist Macklemore was not one of them. In late July, the star was involved in a head-on accident that totaled his vehicle. While he and his nephews were not hurt in the crash, it wasn’t until recently that the rapper decided to speak publicly about the details of the accident. Once TMZ released the first car crash photos, Macklemore decided to open up to various radio outlets regarding the terrifying incident.

Macklemore said the event occurred as he was driving his nephews back home when a car whipped around a corner going “almost 50″ miles per hour.

The rapper told CBS Radio New York’s 92.3 AMP Radio, “There’s just that split second of like, ‘I’m gonna die,’ — boom — and then you get hit… I thought the other guy was dead, everyone in my car was safe — my little 10-year-old nephew was using curse words that I didn’t know he knew.”

The crash photos obtained by TMZ show a pickup truck on the wrong side of the road, right up against Macklemore’s Maybach. The photos show that the airbags in Macklemore’s car had deployed and that the truck’s windshield was smashed and covered with blood. Considering that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration classifies a car’s windshield as one of the primary components of its safety restraint system, it’s no surprise that the truck driver sustained injuries to the face and head. The driver was eventually charged with a DUI.

The rapper went on to say, “It was super scary… [the other driver] was obviously drunk… There’s no way that anybody sober would have been driving that fast trying to make that turn. We were just lucky that the car I was in was very much like a tank and took it very well… but if that wouldn’t have been the case, I might not be here today.”

But while Macklemore and his passengers managed to walk away from the accident unscathed, the same cannot be said of the rapper in regards to the reviews of his latest album, “Gemini.” While it’s not inherently a bad album, according to critics, it probably won’t be a hit, either. Although the rapper has addressed politics and even white privilege on previous records, his newest release is decidedly more carefree. He’s come under fire in the past for critiquing a system from which he directly benefits, but he decided to opt for a less overt message this time. Reveling in his joy is his act of resistance, he explained to NPR.

“Music is something that can uplift, it can inspire… Music is a tool to heal and it doesn’t need to just be spelled out what that healing should look like. There was such a density to the last album and… It was really good to have deep conversations about race on a daily basis. … But with this album, I don’t need to convince anyone that Trump’s a racist. Trump has already either convinced you, or if he hasn’t convinced you, you’re a racist as well. Or, you’re not paying attention and you’re not going to pay attention to me, if that’s the case. People already have their mind made up and I didn’t think that I needed to make some political rap to try to uplift the world right now from Trump’s doing.”

Clearly, even though the rapper knows American society is experiencing a time of turmoil, he’s just happy to be alive — and is trying to inspire others to be, too.